Amy Klobuchar tried to torpedo staff’s future job prospects: report

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., is facing yet more reports that she mistreated staff working in her Senate office, including claims that she attempted to torpedo departing employee’s future job opportunities -- an allegation the senator denies.

Klobuchar, who announced her presidential intentions earlier this month, has been dogged by claims of mistreating her staff. On Friday The New York Times reported on a bizarre allegation that she’d berated a staff member for failing to bring her a fork with her salad. She is alleged to have chastised the aide, and then ate the salad with a comb before telling the aide to clean the comb.

It was part of a list of incidents that aides described as being “not just demanding, but often dehumanizing.”

HuffPost, citing multiple Capitol Hill staffers and former Klobuchar employees, reported Friday that Klobuchar is “well known” for calling prospective employers and shutting down job opportunities for her departing staff. That includes at least one opportunity within the Obama Treasury Department, according to the outlet.

Klobuchar’s office denied the claims, telling the outlet: “This is completely false. The senator has never criticized her staff to prospective employees.”

In one example, HuffPost reported that Klobuchar confronted a fellow Democrat and told them she wanted the offer rescinded. The Democrat ignored her and the staffer joined their team.

Former staffers told the outlet that fear of her attempting to kill off a job offer was so well known that the culture in the office was to treat a job offer “like a state secret.”

Klobuchar has been hit by a flood of allegations in outlets such as The Times, HuffPost and Buzzfeed, including that her conduct became so well known that the Senate minority leader at that time, Harry Reid, D-Nev., told her to change her behavior.

During an interview with Fox News' Bret Baier last week, though, Klobuchar said she spoke with Reid, and “he doesn’t remember that and I don’t remember that either.”

But according to a Buzzfeed News report, numerous staffers said Klobuchar routinely sent late-night emails and berated subordinates over minor details and missteps. The report also said, "one aide was accidentally hit with a flying binder, according to someone who saw it happen, though the staffer said the senator did not intend to hit anyone with the binder when she threw it."

When asked about the report that she threw a binder, she did not flat-out deny it.

"I don't know, it's all anonymous. I will say that I'm proud of our staff," Klobuchar told Fox News last week. "And yes, I can be a tough boss, and push people -- that's obvious. But that's because I have high expectations of myself, I have high expectations of those who work for me, and I have a high expectation for our country. My chief of staff has worked for me for six years, my state director for seven years, my campaign manager for 14 years."

Asked specifically whether she had thrown a binder at someone, Klobuchar responded: "If you look at that story, I think you'll see it said something about me throwing a binder down -- not at somebody," Klobuchar said. "I just know that I should be judged, and I will take responsibility for, everything that happens on this campaign."

Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

Adam Shaw is a reporter covering U.S. and European politics for Fox News.. He can be reached here.